Chapter 1

The pain was a cold fire in my chest, Nightfall' s attack had been brutal.

I lay on the cracked asphalt of the Chicago street, the battle against the Shadow Syndicate raging around me.

Mark, our Chapter leader, was down too, not far off, groaning.

He was always the flashy one, energy blasts lighting up the night, but Nightfall was too strong.

My own Gift, illusions and mental suggestion, wasn' t made for direct combat like this.

I' d used it to shield others, to misdirect, but one hit was all it took for me.

My hand clutched the Heartstone Amulet, its faint warmth a stark contrast to the chill spreading through me.

It was our only one, a rare artifact, capable of bringing someone back from the brink.

I had to get it to Mark, he was the leader, the stronger one, the Order needed him.

"Mark," I gasped, trying to crawl towards him.

Then Olivia was there, her face pale in the flickering streetlights.

Olivia, the orphaned girl I' d rescued years ago, the one I' d practically raised, trained.

The one I' d poured my own energy into when her empathic Gift was just a flicker.

"Ethan," she whispered, kneeling beside me, tears in her eyes.

"The Amulet," I managed, holding it out. "Give it to Mark, he needs it."

She looked from me to Mark, then back to me.

Her hand reached for the Amulet.

"He has to live, Ethan," she said, her voice trembling. "The Order needs him."

I nodded, a faint smile on my lips, she understood.

Then her fingers tightened on the Amulet, not gently, but with a sudden, fierce strength.

She pulled it from my grasp.

"I need him to live, Ethan," she said again, but her eyes, they weren't looking at me with sorrow.

They were looking past me, at Mark, with an intensity I' d never seen before.

A cold dread, colder than the approaching death, seeped into me.

She scrambled towards Mark, leaving me there.

I watched her place the Amulet on Mark's chest, watched its light flare, watched him stir.

She never looked back.

The betrayal was a physical blow, sharper than Nightfall' s magic.

My quiet dedication, my selflessness, all for this.

Olivia, my little sister figure, had chosen Mark.

It wasn't about the Order, it was about her desire for him.

The sounds of the battle faded, the cold consumed me.

My last thought was a bitter one, Mark always got what he wanted.

And I was a fool.